''Hipponix leptus'' is a

species A species () is often defined as the largest group of organisms in which any two individuals of the appropriate sexes or mating types can produce fertile offspring, typically by sexual reproduction. It is the basic unit of Taxonomy (biology), ...

of small limpet-like

sea snail Sea snails are slow-moving marine (ocean), marine gastropod Mollusca, molluscs, usually with visible external shells, such as whelk or abalone. They share the Taxonomic classification, taxonomic class Gastropoda with slugs, which are distinguishe ...

, a marine

gastropod Gastropods (), commonly known as slugs and snails, belong to a large Taxonomy (biology), taxonomic class of invertebrates within the phylum Mollusca called Gastropoda (). This class comprises snails and slugs from saltwater, freshwater, and fro ...

mollusk Mollusca is a phylum of protostomic invertebrate animals, whose members are known as molluscs or mollusks (). Around 76,000 extant species of molluscs are recognized, making it the second-largest animal phylum after Arthropoda. The ...

in the

family Family (from ) is a Social group, group of people related either by consanguinity (by recognized birth) or Affinity (law), affinity (by marriage or other relationship). It forms the basis for social order. Ideally, families offer predictabili ...

Hipponicidae ''Hipponicidae'', common name hoof shells or hoof snails, is a family of small sea snails, limpet-like marine gastropod molluscs in the superfamily Vanikoroidea Vanikoroidea is a superfamily of sea snails, marine gastropod molluscs in the ...

, the hoof snails. The shell of this species is similar to that of ''

Hipponix antiquatus ''Hipponix antiquatus'' is a species of small limpet-like sea snail, a marine gastropod mollusk in the family Hipponicidae, the hoof snails. Distribution Description The maximum recorded shell Shell may refer to: Architecture and design ...

''.

Description

Distribution

Specimens have been found primarily in

Brazil Brazil, officially the Federative Republic of Brazil, is the largest country in South America. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by area, fifth-largest country by area and the List of countries and dependencies by population ...

."A Database of Western Atlantic Marine Mollusca" Malacolog Version 4.1.1 http://www.malacolog.org/search.php?nameid=15645

References

Hipponicidae Gastropods described in 2002 {{Hipponicidae-stub